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I just had a terrible thought.

IronWing

IronWing

No Lifer
What if humanity really is the intellectual elite of the universe, the pineapple of advanced thought and wisdom? No alien super-races, we're the genii and everyone else is really, really dumb?
 
When you look at just the intellectual elite of humanity, it's not so terrible. A lot of really smart people doing amazing things. No need to group the idiots in with them.
 
That is a very sad thought. Also a highly unlikely one. If its true, then we will just build AI and it will make it like heaven on earth and we'll spread our joy all over the cosmos, right?

Red Storm said:
When you look at the intellectual elite of humanity, it's not so terrible. A lot of really smart people doing amazing things. No need to group the idiots in with them.
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This is like saying, "Not all monkeys fling poo, some of them just pick their butt and eat it".
To expand on this, I'll say that humans lack the cognitive operators necessary for a pleasant existence. Those cognitive functions do not exist within us, they simply aren't there. Its like asking why a rat can't win at a game a of chess. Where would you even begin? The thoughts we need to have cannot be generated. We are dead in the mind and barely conscious compared to where we need to be.
 
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Can't be true. Even if Earth is the only planet with life in the entire universe the green/black stuff growing on my shower curtain is smarter than at least 75% of humanity.
 
The other day I was thinking about what if an alien race sent 'missionaries' to us. If they came here with their very advanced technology and wowed us with their incredible wisdom, told us all of our religions are wrong, would we believe them because they know so much more than us and are so much more advanced? What if they told us they know who god really is, and would like to share that information with us. Maybe we're a third world... world. Maybe we'd buy into it just the same as how missionaries convert people in third world countries that don't know any better.
 
moonbogg said:
This is like saying, "Not all monkeys fling poo, some of them just pick their butt and eat it".
To expand on this, I'll say that humans lack the cognitive operators necessary for a pleasant existence. Those cognitive functions do not exist within us, they simply aren't there. Its like asking why a rat can't win at a game a of chess. Where would you even begin? The thoughts we need to have cannot be generated. We are dead in the mind and barely conscious compared to where we need to be.
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Uh no, it's not at all like that.
 
Red Storm said:
Uh no, it's not at all like that.
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Yes, yes it is. The minor variances within a given specie's behavior is insignificant to an intellectually superior species. If you watch a swarm of ants and you notice a few of them manage to find a few hidden crumbs on the floor, you still have a swarm of ants.
Its possible for smart people to explain in laymen's terms their brilliant work to the rest of us. If an intellectually superior species presented us with their brilliant work in any format, we wouldn't even realize they were trying to explain something to us.
 
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IronWing said:
What if humanity really is the intellectual elite of the universe, the pineapple of advanced thought and wisdom? No alien super-races, we're the genii and everyone else is really, really dumb?
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Yeah.... 🙁 wait.. pineapple?

moonbogg said:
That is a very sad thought. Also a highly unlikely one.
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Agreed.
If its true, then we will just build AI and it will make it like heaven on earth and we'll spread our joy all over the cosmos, right?
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Wait.. wHAT?
 
SlowSpyder said:
If they came here with their very advanced technology and wowed us with their incredible wisdom, told us all of our religions are wrong, would we believe them because they know so much more than us and are so much more advanced?
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We'd dissect them, stuff them, and put them in a museum.
 
moonbogg said:
Yes, yes it is. The minor variances within a given specie's behavior is insignificant to an intellectually superior species. If you watch a swarm of ants and you notice a few of them manage to find a few hidden crumbs on the floor, you still have a swarm of ants.
Its possible for smart people to explain in laymen's terms their brilliant work to the rest of us. If an intellectually superior species presented us with their brilliant work in any format, we wouldn't even realize they were trying to explain something to us.
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This assumes that there is a much larger scale to work with. If that is the case then you are right, our smartest and our dumbest might not really be that far apart.

But we have no reason to think that is the case. It is quite possible that our smartest are among the most intelligent beings in the entire universe. It is even possible that we are the only sentient beings in the entire universe. Fermi's Paradox seems to suggest that this is the case.

Fermi's Paradox means that our OP's question is something worth considering, what if we are the best this universe has to offer?

Personally, I think this would be the ideal situation for us. If there are more intelligent beings out there I can't imagine they would want to let us loose on the universe.
 
SMOGZINN said:
This assumes that there is a much larger scale to work with. If that is the case then you are right, our smartest and our dumbest might not really be that far apart.

But we have no reason to think that is the case. It is quite possible that our smartest are among the most intelligent beings in the entire universe. It is even possible that we are the only sentient beings in the entire universe. Fermi's Paradox seems to suggest that this is the case.

Fermi's Paradox means that our OP's question is something worth considering, what if we are the best this universe has to offer?

Personally, I think this would be the ideal situation for us. If there are more intelligent beings out there I can't imagine they would want to let us loose on the universe.
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At this point, based on what we actually know, it could go both ways. The best I can do is take a quick look at the numbers the universe presents us with, and take a guess.
If we are the best the universe has to offer, then we will get better and expand (I hope). As long as we don't stay like we are things should work out.
I do suspect there are other intellectual creatures, perhaps advanced enough to have left biology behind a very long time ago. Biology seems like a natural stepping stone to maturity, a sort of cocoon phase that successful, intelligent forms must go through unless they are created by existing forms.
 
There is another piece though. When you consider the theorized age of the universe, the potential of many species to have come and gone is possible. Maybe it is possible we are the most intelligent just at this moment in time.
 
ImpulsE69 said:
There is another piece though. When you consider the theorized age of the universe, the potential of many species to have come and gone is possible. Maybe it is possible we are the most intelligent just at this moment in time.
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Yeah true. Perhaps life is common, intelligent life that develops technology is rare, and intelligent life that persists in time is even more rare. It is my suspicion, that due to the opportunity the universe provides with its great numbers, that at least a few species have persisted in time. With a species like that, all you need is for it to happen once, and given the chances, I wouldn't be surprised if the "few" times it happened would number in the thousands at the very least.
With a persistent species, you would find an immense ability to propagate and change and evolve to the logical conclusion of what a sentient being can be. Therefore, with one species reaching this level, they might not look much different than any others reaching this level since after maturity the logical conclusion is reached and they all end up with similar abilities.
What I'm saying is, the game appears to be rigged. It appears that the universe is guaranteed to eventually, if not already, be filled with intelligent, amazing life. In such a vast cosmos, all you need is one persistent species to take hold and propagate. Seems like a sure thing. After all, we seem to have a chance at it and we're just one sample.
 
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I don't hold any hopes for a good outcome if we happen to meet a smarter species than us, so I hope we are the best and the brightest. Think of it this way though, any other smarter species will probably have the same reservations about themselves. It's probably that kind of brutal self-examination that would have gotten them to where they are in the first place. If you ever start thinking that your species is "good enough", then you stop trying to get better. Your attitude may well be a hallmark of a highly advanced creature.
 
I submit proof to you of humanity's superior intelligence:

ananas-slicer_o_1242919.jpg
 
I think OP trolled us with a pineapple.
Its so funny. I was getting all carried away talking about the future of humanity, and this whole time the thread was about a pineapple troll.
 
IronWing said:
What if humanity really is the intellectual elite of the universe, the pineapple of advanced thought and wisdom? No alien super-races, we're the genii and everyone else is really, really dumb?
Click to expand...

I've always thought this. Why people believe there is a superior race in the universe is beyond me, especially when there is no shred of proof that one exists or has ever existed.
 
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